BBC forced me to make a deal over Cliff flat raid
Former detective’s trial claim
A DETECTIVE has claimed in court he was forced into a deal with a BBC reporter that led to a tip-off about a raid on Sir Cliff Richard’s flat.
Matthew Fenwick said the journalist threatened to “compromise the investigation” by running a story before his team had searched the singer’s home.
Fenwick said Dan Johnson described Sir Cliff as a “celebrity paedo” and “clearly stated” he had got his information from Operation Yewtree, the Scotland Yard probe set up after the Jimmy Savile scandal.
Fenwick told the High Court: “We came to an arrangement that he wouldn’t publish it then but that we would notify him when we were ready to take further action.”
Asked if the BBC had forced him to do a deal, Fenwick told the court: “Yes, really, yes. I felt we didn’t have many options.”
The ex-superintendent said he had thought publishing the story would compromise the investigation and could also “compromise Sir Cliff Richard by exposing him to allegations, potentially giving him the opportunity to dispose of evidence”.
He and the South Yorkshire Police communications chief Carrie Goodwin told Johnson when they were considering a search of Sir Cliff ’s home but turned down his request to attend the raid.
Sir Cliff, 77, is suing the BBC for damages over their reporting of the 2014 raid on his flat in Sunningdale, Berkshire.
South Yorkshire Police paid Sir Cliff £400,000 in damages, but the BBC are fighting the claim and say their coverage was of “legitimate public interest”.
Fenwick said he complained after an article on the BBC website suggested the Corporation’s presence at the raid was a deliberate attempt to “maximise publicity for the investigation”.
Fenwick said: “I was angry about this because it was untrue. I made a number of calls to Dan Johnson as I wanted him to ensure it was removed.”